A worker who was trapped while digging a trench at a New City house is pictured after being rescued. (Nov. 22, 2012) Photo Credit: Sarah Armaghan

Emergency workers rescued a man who was trapped in a trench for two hours Friday when it collapsed and nearly buried him alive as he tried to repair a water leak at a New City house.

The unidentified worker was pulled from the six-foot-deep death trap around 3:30 p.m. after Rockland rescue workers cleared away dirt and maneuvered him past boulders that pressed against his chest, nearly suffocating him, emergency personnel at the scene said.

Donald Arterburn, the chief of the Rockland Regional Technical Rescue team, said the worker put his own life in jeopardy by working so deep in an unstable trench.

"Anytime you go below four-and-a-half feet, you risk being buried like this because there is so much weight," Arterburn said. "You figure a cubic foot of dirt weighs 150 pounds, and his feet were well below surface so there was a lot of dirt and a lot of weight pinning him to the foundation of the house."

"Extremely dangerous," Arterburn added. "Something he shouldn't have been doing."

The man was conscious and breathing when he emerged from the ditch and was trying to speak to rescue workers in his native Spanish. He was transported by helicopter to Westchester Medical Center.

"The time of the year and the condition of the dirt that was packed on the victim was wet, clay-type dirt, which makes it real heavy," Arterburn said. "There was a lot of decorative stone and large boulders in the trench with him. One of them was pressing against his chest when we got there. That was our first obstacle to move. After that, it was just digging down to get to his feet. His legs were bent, so we had to uncover a good portion of them to pull him out."

"It was a good operation by everyone who was involved in it and a successful rescue," said Nanuet Fire Dept. Commissioner Harold Straut.